Fire-escape.



J. L. GILLMORE. FIRE ESCAPE.

APPLIOATiON FILED MAR. 10, 1911, 1,015,485. Patented Jan. 23,1912.

2 SHEETSSHBET 1.

JOHN L. eILLMoaE, or EVERETT, wasnnveron.

FIRE-ESCAPE.

I Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 23, 1912,

Application filed March 10, 1911 Serial No. 613,500.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN L. Ginnnonn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Everett, in the county of Snohomish and State of Washington, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fire-Es: capes, of which the following is a speclfication.

endless carrier type, andit has for its object to provide an apparatus of thisakind-which is simple in constructiomand safe and re-Q liable in operation, and which can be readily attached to any building.

The invention also has .for -its object to provide improved means for checking the descent of the carrier, and also tojprovid-e certain novel structural details, as. will be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this spee1ficationF1gure 1 1s a front elevation of the fire es'capein position on the building. Fig. 2 1s a cross section of the top port-ion of the apparatus. Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3+3 of Flg. 2. Fig. t is a perspective view ofa fragment of 7 one of the steps or platforms oft-he carrier. Referring specifically to the drawings, 10

denotes a bracket which is securely fastened to the building in any suitable manner, near the top thereof," and, which servesto support the top portion of the apparatus. The bracket has a horizontal arm ll on which 1s, supported a brake shoe 12 having a base portion 13, provided withardepending stem 14. which passes through a vertical openlng in said arm, near the outer end thereof. Be

tween the bottom oft-he base of the brake shoe, and the bracket arm 11 is located 'a' spring 15, said sprin ibeing coiled around the stem 14. The bra e shoe 12 engages the periphery of a brake drum or pulley 16, said periphery being flanged, as shown, tOp'revent lateral play of the brake shoe The pulley 16 has on each side a hub extension 17, and each of said extensions carries a sprocket wheel 18. -A shaft 19 passlng through the hub extensions supports the brake pulley and the sprocket wheels. The

sprocket wheels are made fast to the hub extensions, or they imay' be formed integral therewith, so that said sprocket wheels. and V the brake pulley will rotate together. The ap paratus is suspended from a cable 20 passing over pulleys 2l and 22 mounted on the This invention relates to fire escapes of the;

wall of the building. One end of the'cable is connected 'to'a yoke 23, the branchesof which are connected to the shaft 19. The other end of the cable extends downwardly from the pulley 22 and carries a counterweight 24. y

To the ends of the shaft 19 are" also connected frame members 25 which extend downwardly toward the ground. .Tothe building, near the ground, is made fast a bracket 26 carrying anti-friction rollers (27 with which the rear edges of the frame I members are in contact. The rollers27 are sopositioned withrespect to the shaft 19 that the frame members extend'at an incli nation toward the ground. i The carrier comprises endless chains'28 which pass around the sprocket wheels 18 at the top of the apparatus, and also around sprocket wheels 29 at the botton'i-thereof. The chains 28 carry "steps, the same being' located atsuitable intervals thereon. These steps comprise end pieces 30, and a tread 31 extending therebetween. At the upper and lower ends of theendpieces 30 are rollers 32 which travel 'on the frame m embers25,

ers the; endpi'eces are suitably fastened "to the chains.

The apparatus will belocated so that th chains travel in close proximity to the. building, and the latter will be provided and substantially midway between said r611:

with exits 33 solocated relative to the chains 7 that a person may step from said exits onto,

any one of the steps as they pass. The

chains extend toward the ground at an in ,clination parallel to the frame members I the chains being held in this position byreason of the engagement of the rollers 32 with;

said frame members a I In order to automatically check the dc scent oflthecarrier, a centrifugal governor is provided,.the parts constituting t-he.gov-

ernor. being constructed and arranged as followszTo the brake shoe 12is rigidly fas tened a yoke 84'carrying a hollow, vertical shaft 35, which supports the governing mechanism, the samecomprising centrifugal balls or weights 36 which are operativelyv connected to a'stem 37 mounted in the shaft 35,and-carrying a brake shoe adaptedto engage theperiphery. of the pulley 16 on the side opposite the one that is engaged by the brake shoe'l2. The governor is' driven from the hub of the pulley 16 by means of a belt no I 39 passing over a pulley 40, on one of the hub extensions 17 and over a pulley 41, the shaft of which is suitably geared to the governor. WVhen theapparatus is in operation, the rotary motion of the sprocket wheels 18 is communicated to the governor, and when an excessive speed is attained the governor balls 36 fly outwardly, whereupon the stem 37 moves downwardly and presses the brake shoe 38 against the periphery of the pulley 16, thus checking the descent of the carrier.

The purpose. of the brake shoe 12 is also to check'the descent of the carrier and to lower different weights to the ground at the same rate of speed. The Weight 24 balances the apparatus, and t-he shoe 12 is normally rout of contact with the periphery of the pulley 16. By lightening the weight the pulley 16 lowers toward the brake shoe. In operation, the weight of the person stepping on the carrier will lower the entire apparatus bodily, the pulley 16 then coming into engagement with the brake shoe 12, and forcing the latter downwardly against the tension of the spring 15. Thus a weight of fifty pounds put on the carrier, would produce a braking pressure of fifty pounds on the pulley 16, any greater weight placed on the carrier producing a corresponding increase in the braking action, thus causing different weights to be lowered to the ground at the same rate of speed. The greater the weight placed on the carrier, the greaterwill be the amount of compression of the spring 15 and the consequent braking action.

I claim:

1. A fire escape comprising an endless carrier, a counterweighted suspension device therefor, said endless carrier comprising sprocket Wheels and their shaft, chains passing around said sprocket wheels, and load supporting devices carried by the chains, frame members connected to the shaft of the aforesaid sprocket wheels, and depending therefrom, a stationary support, a roller carried by said support and engageable with the frame members adjacent to their lower ends, a brake member connected to the carrier, a stationary support, and a brake shoe yieldingly mounted on the lastmentioned stationary support.

2. A fire escape comprising an endless carrier, a counterweighted suspension device therefor, a brake member connected to the carrier, a stationary support, a brake shoe yieldingly mounted on said support and adapted to engage the aforesaid brake member, a governing mechanism mounted on the brake shoe and operatively connected to the endless carrier, and a brake shoe operatively connected to the governing mechanism, said brake shoe engaging the aforesaid brake member of the carrier.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN L. GILLMORE.

. WVitnesses:

THOMAS W. COBB, M. M. SMITH.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

